The air had changed.
Far beyond the castle walls, deep within the ruins of the Shattered Gate, the skies twisted unnaturally. A vortex of obsidian clouds swirled above the ancient temple—marking the return of a force long thought sealed away.
The Void Queen… Selene's mother… had awakened.
Her eyes opened—piercing, ancient, cruel.
"Arin..." she whispered through the cosmos, her voice echoing like thunder wrapped in silk. "Your heart has grown soft. And yet… you hold the Key of Endings."
---
Back at the castle, Arin stood atop the watchtower, cloak billowing, Astra by his side.
She looked restless. Her hands trembled, not from fear—but from truth.
"I need to tell you something," she said, her voice quiet.
He turned to her, sensing the storm within her.
"My real name is not Astra."
Arin blinked.
"I was born as Astrael'Nythara, daughter of the Void Queen and the last Celestial King."
Arin's brows furrowed. "That… makes you a—"
"A hybrid of creation and destruction," she said, meeting his eyes. "I was made to be the bridge between light and void. The weapon… and the heir."
"But you chose to walk away from that."
"I chose you," she said fiercely. "And now my mother knows."
---
In the throne room, the wives gathered.
Seraphina, already clad in her battle robes, lit the war-map with celestial flames.
"The Void Queen has risen," she confirmed. "And she's coming for Arin. Not to kill him—but to use him as her vessel."
Lilith slammed her dagger into the map. "Let her come."
Evelyn looked at Astra. "Do we trust her?"
Arin answered before Astra could. "With my life."
Freya stepped forward. "Then we prepare. For a war unlike any we've faced."
---
That night, Arin found Astra alone by the moonlit fountain.
"You still don't believe you deserve this peace," he said.
She turned. "I'm my mother's daughter. Born to bring ruin."
He stepped closer. "Then let me remind you who you chose to be."
Their lips met—slow, urgent, full of a thousand unsaid fears and the hope they still clung to. As the night deepened, their hearts aligned in more ways than one—warmth melting even the deepest frost Astra had carried for years.
---
But as they made love under starlight, a shadow slipped across the moon.
Far away, in the ruins of fate, the Void Queen smiled.
"It begins."
[TO BE CONTINUED...]